McDonald's has taken rice off its menus in Hong Kong after an experiment in offering Asian-style dishes along with its usual fare of burgers and fries failed to win over diners.
A spokeswoman for the US fast-food chain confirmed yesterday the two rice dishes it launched in its Hong Kong restaurants 18 months ago had been removed.
Two dishes, grilled chicken with mushroom sauce and chicken cutlet with curry sauce, have been withdrawn despite McDonald's claiming an "extremely positive" response from customers when they were first introduced, according to the Sunday Morning Post.
McDonald's -- which first persuaded Hong Kong people to switch from rice dishes to Big Macs in the 1970s -- raised eyebrows when it began serving up chicken and rice dishes in 2002.
They were introduced in mar-kets across the region as an attempt to broaden to appeal of McDonald's to Asian palates at a time when the US fast food chain was seeing sales fall worldwide. At the time, it said the US$2.80 rice dishes had been introduced because it was "what our customers are asking for."
The spokeswoman declined to comment on the reasons for the withdrawal and would only say: "McDonald's launches different promotions at different times."
However, rice dishes remain on the menu in outlets in Thailand and in Taiwan.
In Hong Kong, the chain is instead concentrating on the city's escalating appetite for coffee shops, launching four new-style restaurants serving up expresso coffee, salads and gourmet sandwiches along with the regular McDonald's range.
"We are giving customers what they desire," said Patrick Mahoney, managing director of McDonald's Hong Kong in a statement. "We are catering to a segment of the existing Mc-Donald's customers who would like more fine food and coffee choices."
The new restaurants put McDonald's in direct competition with Pacific Coffee, Pret A Manger and Starbucks.
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